There are 4 typhoons in the Falklands, at one base. The Argies could open festivities at 4am some morning and wipe out the fighter fleet with sub launched Commandos, or a sub launched cruise missile or two.
Then speaking of Subs, they use the extremely silent German 209. Even nuke attack subs play sheer hell trying to find those in waters such as those in the Falklands Archipeligo.
And the Argie ships, A-4s and mirages carry exocets still.
It wouldn’t be the cakewalk the anglophiles think it would be.
The Brits could likely hold the islands, because it would be just as hard for the Argies to move in force to the island. But the Brits would suffer some nasty losses. Realistically they cannot project power much better than the Argies, especially down there. So the stalemate would contine.
The real nightmare is that the political situation has changed in south America. Brazil and other south Americans might ally with Argentina if that Argentine woman can cast this as Europeans against poor south America. And Obama would never help England. He hates them as much as he does us.
It could all get really weird.
The Falkland Islands and Our Pants
Think Defence | April 19, 2011
http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2011/04/the-falkland-islands-and-our-pants/
Argentina military grapples with old stuff
disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only
by Staff Writers
Buenos Aires (UPI) Dec 20, 2010
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Argentina_military_grapples_with_old_stuff_999.html
The Argentinians don’t possess cruise missiles let alone sub-launched variants.
The 209’s and the exocet’s are anti-ship systems and while they might be useful in delaying any subsequent heavy lift into the area they are next to useless in ground operations.
The 209 and 1700 class subs are small (crew complement 25 to 35) and wouldn’t be able to land anything more than a handful of troops and that is the best and only capability they have for this type of operation.
Even if they did succeed, they’d have to also hold the base against 700+ UK troops to prevent the reinforcement of fresh aircraft and troops which could arrive within 12 hours. Frankly, that’s an absurd proposition
I agree that Obama wouldn’t lift a finger but he’s not going to be put into that position. The Brits learnt the lesson 30 years ago that it’s easier to defend and reinforce a position than it is to lose it and have to mount an amphibious operation to retake it, especially if it’s 12,000 miles from home. The fact the the Argentinians don’t have anything like a serious offensive capability helps a lot.
“The real nightmare is that the political situation has changed in south America. Brazil and other south Americans might ally with Argentina if that Argentine woman can cast this as Europeans against poor south America. And Obama would never help England. He hates them as much as he does us.
It could all get really weird.”
Agreed.
If Argentina moves on the Falklands, the Brits probably have no better than a 50/50 chance of holding them. If any other nations of South America offer Argentina support and arms, the Brits may be done there, short of using nukes...
the Brits still have some tricks up their sleves. See what the citizens of Buenos Aires think then their power grid gets dropped by a few of those nifty carbon filiment warhead Tomahawks fired from RN SSNs